Daniel Ricciardo believes Red Bull could soon emerge as Mercedes' nearest rival for race victories once it receives Renault's latest power unit, which is scheduled for the Canadian Grand Prix.
Ricciardo qualified third in Spain, six-tenths down on Lewis Hamilton, as Ferrari fell further back. But the Australian believes that gap could shrink in the upcoming races, once Red Bull gets its hands on the upgraded Renault power unit which it's estimated will deliver a half second gain.
"I think there will still be a little more, but sure on some circuits it [the upgrade] could be enough [for wins]," Ricciardo said on Saturday.
"So if we were to have it here, for example, I think there's still 0.6s off Lewis today so I don't think we're expecting 0.6s from the upgrade so we would probably still not quite be there but it would certainly put us a lot closer."
Ricciardo reckons the tighter, slower circuits will offer the best opportunity for Red Bull to overhaul Mercedes.
"Monaco and Budapest, some of these tighter circuits, I think [it] would give us a real shot, so hanging out for the next few races, really," he added.
"We do have a good car underneath us and it'll be interesting come even tighter, twistier circuits."
Discussion about this post